How Ginger Escaped


Written by Septia.


“Hey ginger, you up yet? Sun's not gonna wait for a slowpoke.” 
	My eyelids crumbled open, the magnified black print on sleek textbook paper crowding my vision. Wedging my head out from the pages of the book, I heard the tome -Scllprtch- clasp shut with a squelch of smeared drool pasting between its pages. 
	In the haze of slumber it took a few moments to process, what had just happened, after which I tore the textbook into my lap and cleaved it open. -Sllprtrh- A rorschach mark of spittle imprinted the pages discerning the difference of cramps and aches. I groaned, grinding a knuckle to my forehead, as if I needed the resell value to go down any further… if I could even use these pages myself now. I stared at the mark, the burgeoning matte print reminiscing of the tree crowns in a tropical locale, imprinted between the slew of medical terms and clinical photos. 
	“Ginger, you awake?” 
	I stirred. That was Rachel's voice. Right… I peered between the door and the book. A distraction sounded great right about now. 
	“Just a second, had a long night.” 
	“Well we don't wanna have a long morning too, do we?” 
	Hearing Rachel say this brought on a smile. Yeah, letting loose for a while could be good. 


 Shelly and Michelle waited for us down outside the apartment, waving as a we headed down. 
	“Michelle forgot her towel, you got an extra, right?” 
	“Really? I didn’t take Michelle for someone eager to share sheets,” I retort and snickered.
	Rachel chuckled in turn.
	“Boy, easy now, easy boyo,” A shrivelled voice comes from further down the stairs. Around the next bend I see her, mrs. Cere, clambering onto the railing as she shuffled down one step at a time, leash tangled around wrist leading to her pet raccoon skittering a few steps down. Rachel strut past, peering back at me. 
	“You coming?” 
	“Yeah, yeah course.” I follow a few more steps, then stop. 
	“Ginger,” Rachel call out from the road. 
	“I'll be with you in a sec,” I turn back, and hold out my elbow for support. “Mrs., would you mind some help?” 
	“Oh dear, dear, I mind not at all,” she nodded, and steadied herself on my arm. 
	A few more steps… and we were on the ground level. Mrs. Cere's raccoon scampering about between her legs in joy. 
	“There you go, can you handle yourself from here? Hope they get the elevator going again soon.” 
	“Bah,” the old woman scoffs, “That thing's been on the fritz for weeks. Unlike you, a Steady young lady on the road to greatness.” 
	“I dunno about that, but thanks.” 
	“Oh nonsense. A spry kind gal like yourself, should be granted whatever she wishes for.” 
	“Ginger.” 
	I peer back and then give Mrs. Cere a nod, “Again thanks, but we'll see about that, gotta run.” 
	“Off you go, enjoy~” 
	Joining up with the others Rachel’s gaze bore through my head, pinning me responsible for every second of sunlight she was missing. 
	“Why're you just standing around? Pool's gotta be warm at this point right?” 
	“That's the spirit,” Shelly exclaims and budges us to get moving. 
	“So did you bring a spare towel?” Michelle pipes up. To which I couldn't help but chuckle. 


~ 1 ~


“Hey.” 
	The weather was so peaceful. 
	“Hey.” 
	Could just lie back in the water and bakelike a shrimp in the sun all day… 
	“Heeey.” 
	Just me, the water and the sun. Right then a finger jabbed itself in my side, triggering a spasm that shuffled me out of balance, peering up at the perpetrator. 
	“Hey,” Shelly said. 
	“Hey,” I parroted, “What's up?” 
	Shelly pointed across the pool. “We got a couple of fans.” 
	broad muscles, bronze skin, sleek sprawling hair, just across the short end, not looking our way, but also not not looking our way. 
	“In a creepy way?” I asked. 
	“In a guy way.” 
	“If they're interested why don't they come over?” I wondered.
	“They've been here for twenty minutes.” 
	“Hmm…” I took off my sunglasses, “You wanna ambush ‘em?” 
	Shelly redirected my vision, right to Rachel on the way to the boys. 
	“oOoo,” We watched casually as she approached, exchanged a few words, a few laughs, before turning and waving us over. 
	“So guys, these are my friends, Shelly, the spicy, Michelle the sweetie, and Ginger the wildcard.” 
	“Hey,” I interject with a scoff, “When was this decided?” 
	Rachel just continued. “I Was just telling Fred and Markus here how you're going for a bachelor's, but that you're not opposed to grabbing a couple… masters either.” 
	Can't believe she just said that… thought it was like her, first to take initiative, first to push the envelope, and soon first to get a smack across the face. 
	“Dunno about that,” Fred said and scratched the back of his dirt blonde hair, “Think all I'm seeing are a couple of goddesses without any worshippers.” 
	“My,” Rachel cooed, “we'll just have to see who worships who.” 
	“Ehm,” Michelle mumbled, “I'm getting kinda hungry you guys.” 
	Resist the urge calling Rachel thirsty. Resist… resist… 
	“I could eat, you sweet thingies been to the zoo? Their cafeteria's got the tastiest shakshuka in town. 
	“Does it have a college discount?” Shelly piped in. 
	“It got a pretty girl discount,” Fred said with a clack of his tongue. 
	Marcus then added. “And, a college discount, as well.” 
	“Then it's settled,” Rachel clasped her hands together. “We'll just need some time, see you boys at the zoo.” Rachel announced and turned, before spinning right back, “and perchance, you boys got any more hot friends?” 


~ 2 ~


They were right, that shakshuka was great. Whatever zoo restaurant staff were paid, it wasn't enough. I sighed. Hope I get paid enough, eventually… Even with the discount it was looking like noodles for another week.
	“Ginger?” 
	I shuddered with Shelly's hand on my shoulder. “You ok? Feel so stale, loosen up some, we're at the zoo. How can you be glum at the zoo?” 
	“Who said I was glum?” 
	Shelly ruffled through my scarlet saffron locks, like she’d done long ago, back at the playground when I'd been a doof. I ruffled hers in turn. 
	“Gals, come on, look at these doofuses.” Rachel called from ahead. And we joined back up with the group, sauntering from the different environmental exhibits. Weird to see seals and giraffes so close to the city. Marcus was even sharing some trivia about each spot we stopped. Which was neat, Michelle seemed to actually be listening too. I was mostly in it for seeing the hippos wag their silly ‘lil tails. 


We joined up with the others at the chimp exhibit, a large enclosure with steel fencing and a clear roof. Leaning onto the railing I could spy down into the lush jungle and bright patchwork of leaves and branches on which chimpanzees lounged upon or scuttled after one another. 
	-Ooooaah aaah hookah- Their hollering chimed in every now and again, calling out between each other. 
	-Sllpsthhs- A sluggish squelch rang out as one ape got their pelting of fresh monkey manure. 
	“Geeze, look at all those freaks,” I found myself saying, “Filthy things, you believe we're related to these filthy creatures?” 
	“Some of us more than others,” Rachel chimed in.
	“What are you implying with that, babe?” Fred asked as he cozied up by her side. 
	“Well, lets,” she peeked over at the information plaque, “let's just say I've known a few 'Pan Troglodytes' in my days.” 
	“Oooo~.” Shelly joined in. 
	“Fun fact,” Markus said, “did you know chimpanzees got the species name troglodyte because people assumed they lived in caves?” 
	“Huh?” I mouthed. 
	“That's what troglodyte means,” Markus clarified. 
	“Oh, yeah, gotcha,” I mumbled. How long had I been studying now, and there was still so much I didn't know? I sloughed up against the railing, peering wistfully into the enclosure, this little patch of wildlife paradise where the black apes congregated. “You know…” I mumbled to myself. “It doesn't seem that bad.” Peering into these primates' life, it seemed to be so simple. There were apes relaxing with one another, playing games, rolling on the ground and, yes, even flinging their feces at each other. It seemed to be just, that little care in their lives. “A monkey doesn't have to care about essays, student loans, textbooks, or rent. I kinda wish, that could be me,” I hung on that sentiment, sighing. “Sometimes… Is that weird?” I asked the others. They weren't paying attention.
	My legs were just getting dry, though slacks were a tad damp still, guess that's what I get for sharing towels with Michelle. In hindsight that was real good, it had gotten pretty embarrassing back there. I let go of the railing. 
	-Clldrrrthddbdlpsthwp- A shockwave with the sound of a meaty squelch rung through my ears, disrupting my balance to where an eruption of weight at my thighs tore me down and anchored me to the ground. -Thhddwwp- It slapped onto the ground, I felt a reverberating tension through my skeleton but, what had actually hit the ground, it was alien. All I knew is that it ached raw with throbs jostling my thighs. “Gnngyraaawhr,” I screamed. The others turned, and they saw me there, on my knees, with my slacks distorted in a pair of bulbous wardrobes, stressing the fabric towards its breaking point to make seams visible around the swollen globes weighing me to the dirt path. 
	“Ginger,” Rachel called out, “Ginger what the, what are you doing?” she shook her hands. 
	I peer up, clutching my gut, doubling over, staring at the globes plying out my pants, watching a dampness percolate through the fabric, as moisture exuded from… whatever this was… Rachel panicked. 
	Michelle shot up to me, holding my back, and forcing my throat to arch up to give it a clear path of air. “Call emergency services, she needs assistance, right now.” 
	It took me aback hearing Michelle talk this much, or with such conviction. Another pang wracked through my body. I kept patting over my stomach, but… it seemed whole, together, whatever was in my pants wasn't my guts, that was a positive. Posit… positive… had to get my head clear, gotta stay conscious with them, whatever this was. 
	“Ginger are you ok, can you hear me?” 
	“I'm, y-yeah,” I wheezed out, Michelle was not convinced. Still… guts or not, sure felt like I had lost about two melon's worth of body mass in one instant. 
	“I'm keeping her steady, Shelly, check for ruptures.” 
	Shelly shuddered and stumbled forwards, hands shaking as she reached for my pants, recoiled, and tried again. 
	“Shelly now.” Michelle demanded. 
	“R-right,” Shelly wheezed and snatched up my zipper, unbuttoning and peeking inside… her eyes went wide, recoiling with her fit rattling. “O-oh, b-b-balls…” she swore. 
	“That bad? Hey Rachel, Markus, other guy, someone make that call,” Michelle called out. “What did you see? Tell me,” she demanded. 
	Shelly shook her head. “B-balls…” 
	“What do you mean?” 
	“She got balls…” Shelly snapped. 
	My eyelid twitched. The hell was she saying. But Michelle eased the bridge of my neck enough for me to look down… and… oh… she wasn't kidding… in the open wedge of the zipper, I saw straight down on a patch of peach pale skin, bulging with veins that sprinted down into the darkness shrouded by the fabric, smooth and drooping in a clear fluid that seeped down like sweat… It… sure looked like testicles. 
	“What in the whole hell…” Michelle mouthed. 
	“Ooohaah oooah oaoooaha,” came shouts behind her. The enclosure was growing rowdy. Several chimps were alerted to my scream and gathering to find out what all the fuss was about, and this commotion only escalated, all of them screaming in each other's throats. 
	“Fmghrhg…” I wheezed. Shudders tearing through my muscles, skin prickling with invisible needles, amplified by it, which picked up the vibrations of steam, sending tremors through my arms, down my back, and rending through my spine. “Every bone in my body clattered, moving beyond my controls, beyond even my perception, in ways that confused my very sinew. My flesh feeling nauseous, all amplified by the screaming… screaming… 
	“Th-the noise…” I mumbled, coughing as I doubled over myself. 
	Michelle steeled herself. “We gotta get her out of here before this gets worse. Boys, come help her stand.” She commanded. Both of them were falling in line. “Can you stand?” 
	I couldn't… my calves ached like raw ground beef, wrapped by my slacks tautened around them in the sudden expanse of new brawn, I was locked to the ground, a prisoner to my own attire… 
	“Lift her, come on.” Michelle's voice felt distant. Palms wrapped around me, soon I was soaring a hand above the ground. Somewhere close-by I could hear Rachel argue on her phone, something about her friend having balls and no laughing. I couldn't hear… I couldn't focus, I was burning up… 


~ 3 ~


I was somewhere else now. Somewhere more remote. My back against the side of a shed that had once been for emergency services, but now just for maintenance of something. I steadied myself against a faux rock beside me, it prickled against my skin. 
	“Drink this,” Sally said, hoisting up something to my mouth… a bottle, yeah, water roiling down my throat, crisp, clean cool… the icy liquid gave me contrast… I was steaming, hotter than white iron, every part of me trembling, made me wonder why the water didn't evaporate the moment it hit my tongue. 
	“H-hot. H-hot.” 
	Sally swallowed, nodded, and brushed over my back. “Y-yeah, just… you are gonna be ok, alright?” she said, putting on a smile, and ruffling through my hair. -Chrlrt- asphalt- A soft rip, like peeling the plastic film off a cup of yogurt… where did that sound come from? Why did Sally look so concerned? Why was she holding a tuft of my hair…? Oh, … A shaking palm reached up to my scalp, twirling around my ginger locks… -Sllptth- They peeled out of their roots without a smidgen of effort. 
	"Sally,” Michelle called out, coming around the corner. “Is she conscious?” 
	“Y-yeah, b-but her hair-.” 
	“Stay with her. Service in here is a nightmare. We'll have something here soon.” And like that she was gone again. 
	Sally was left staring at me, brushing over my side, which gave off a soft -Sqlpsh- smear of salve… 
	“Hear that? It is gonna, be ok, alright. Just hang in there, girlfriend, we'll stay with us-.” 
	-Spfpbbrrlrptuhfhs- -Bbrrlwptuthghtpsthh- A spluttering avalanche of bolognese squeezed through a funnel disturbed the air between us. I couldn't stop it… It just decided to emerge on its own, sticky, thick, and plastering into my underwear… the air was gradually polluted with a stench of fermented sardines and wilted kale. 
	“Did, you just…?” 
	“Aha… mahde, mess,” I mumbled, even talking was strenuous. My teeth felt so tight together, too much effort just to move them. 
	“I'll… I'll be back in just a second with some papers. That alright?” 
	“O-ooh-. Ooikkkh…” 
	“That's more like it, be strong Ginger. I'll be right back,” she said and shuffled out of my sight. 
	“D-… dookknt' G-ghoo…” I wheezed through my teeth, they felt so cumbersome in my mouth… thicker, stretching, a block of calcium between my gums… panting harder, wheezing out for breath, anything to stay a bit chilly… -Chrrlptch- at this state… even the… mess, at my rear was, a cool embrace, smooth silt clay duning at my cheeks… something soft to rest against, compared to the sheered wood and fake rocks… Why would, why would fake rock… real rock, so many…? 
	-Bbdthhtmgng- My balls thrummed, beating in a throb that squealed and swirled the balm of sweat under my clothes. I was steaming under the pants, shorts clinging, clasped against me. But the ache… Ooh the ache was getting too much. I steadied my head achiest the wall. 
	“FMmgpghhrt.” Grunting, growling as I shuffling my legs upwards, taut and bending in the sealed cloth around my balls… my balls… they were mine, they wouldn't hurt so much if they weren't… Is this just what balls were like? My sandals peeked up, on each side of my mountain sack, as I shuffled back into something more comfortable, something not pancaking my sack against the dirt… something, something… -Crrkkt- -Ckrkptah- Cracking… snapping, dislodging… My feet weren't supposed to be making that sound, and skin wasn't... meant to be bubbling either… it was, almost mesmerizing, under the thin straps of cloth, my own skin was swelling in pocks and bubbles, only to sink back in and l leave a husk of displaced membrane in their path, slowly shuffling and melding meat underneath… I wracked my brain, this was a thing I studied for, I should know… Was this a cramp, or was it an ache?, why was it all over me? What could cause melon sized boils to spontaneously… I got… curious… Maybe, I was delusional, hopped up on whatever heat was raging through my body. But… this wasn't in any of my textbooks… 
	I scrambled down to reach my sandals… pausing, stirring… My hands were… boiling as well… a stormy, broiling pot cloaked in a blanket of skin. Why… didn't I feel this? Was it numbness? Was… sandals… sandals hurt… The straps were choking my skin, it needed to breathe. I grabbed the straps, and tore them back. -Cclslptth- The cardboard loosened and I shambled off of them… with… -Clslpttrch- tethers of peachy ointment webbing them back to my sandals, stretching right form my skin… My breath picked up again, chest rattling in breaths. Bad. Very bad. Hyperventilating was… last… my lungs needed. I stared at my freed feet, the boiling ramping up, spreading up my ankles, slobbered, loosened skin warped over my feet: Ridges of skin sunk in between my toes… moulding into trenches, extending down… I remembered… in the books. Renderings of the anatomy of the feet, toes, really were much longer than they appeared, thinly covered up in us humans overtime… Was this how long my toes really were…? The trenches reached halfway down my foot… 
	-Llspthckrkxt- Another crack, this one ached through me, and I stared with wracked breath as my big toe -Cllsptah- dislodged, the trench leading down to it, slurping my flesh away in its path, the breadth of my pads extending, moulding with new muscles… They… they… Sensations through me… muted, as I started the joints were uncovered in my soles, the trenches dipping and extending along my toes, brawn malforming, steeling back longer, a searing of forgotten screenings reignited through my tissue. I was stunned at the sight of my feet, which were slowly morphing into a facsimile of hands. I bent the fingers in my hands, and then followed with my left foot. They curled, smooth, flexible… strong. This… this wasn't in… any…book. 
	“Hhata-. Whahta,” I wheezed, then it raged through me again, the heat, the sweltering pyre torching my skin. More red locks, drooping down my face… falling in bundles… I was melting… my whole body was melting, I was melting and stuck in these, awful, awful clothes. I shout, vocals thrumming in a holler. Desperation surged… hand feet my new hand feet clutching onto the tense fabric cloaking my balls, and hands grasping the seams pinched over my thighs. I had. To hI ha. To be. Freee. 
	-Kkrrrtttclsptytytycaha- … Serenity… all the tension… flourished into goosebumps along the freed skin, fluttering through my body, and settled in a complete… calm. -Cllrpththtch- The fabric torn from around my emerging balls, upon which caked in thick, peachy balm, laid the colour of my skin. More than fabric, seemed to have ripped, but underneath. Oh that cool surface… it was was magnificent. A prickle in my lips, bending my mouth into a smile, more room, to my mandibles, bending, tensing… so soft… -Sllptthht- The tatter of cloth and skin fell out of my grasp. The skin beneath was tougher, naked, free… and it wanted out, it all wanted out… I knew it… I knew it was the clothes’ fault. Brandishing my digits pried, and ripped -Cllprth- -Bwwllrlrpthahsp- -Crrlrrkspxxltth- rending chunks of fabric free of my garments, allowing my sack to emerge in a slushing bound -Slflpthrllct-. Chafing my back against the wall to crumple and roll the fabric and skin with slick squelches of ape-grease -Scllpsthrch-. The clusters of shed skin all slinging onto me like drying glue. The more I peeled off -Kwrsscqtch- the more my temperature acclimated. This boil. This heat… remained… it coursed through my veins, but… I understood it now… I knew… why… -Kkrlslptchth- and I peeled off the rupture in my pants up to my zipper and cracked it open like wet paper… I could see it… the bulb of flesh, protruding therein, bolstering in its freedom, a calve thick rod of meat and veins that greeted me with its rhythmic throbs. Oooh, it just wanted a bit of attention, it just wanted to be free… 


“Ginger, I got enough paper towels to… aaaawww h-h-hell…” Sally dropped an armful of tissues. She stared at me… to the crater of erupted straps of cloths where my pants had once been, where my balls and dick now erupted, to the strands of red hair I scraped off my scalp and scratched tufts of my shirt… with my legs wrapped back to the flagpole of a dick, the slender, elongated palms wrapping around in a cushioned hold, pumping, nursing the tremors and throbs through that mast. I peered over to her, grinning, I felt fangs brushing. With so many teeth. 
	“Hoot sooo hawt baby, you are so hoot,” I wheezed out. As I spoke I felt my my mandibles tingle, two font teeth cracking -cloth- as they extended, growing downwards and slimming into points, a pair of sleek, ivory fangs.
	“Shelly you gotta tell us how-…” Michelle only froze, pale as a ghoul in horror as she stared, a near match to my new skin… 
	“Guys, I got some people on the line, they wanna know if Ginger can comment for herself on-.” Rachel appeared. -Cllrhth- Her phone cracked on the ground, as she screamed. 
	I screamed with her… it was exhilarating.


To be continued